


To Kill a Legend

by Mez10000



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 21:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5106422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mez10000/pseuds/Mez10000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Link's saved Hyrule and Termina, defeated evil and finally got the chance to live the life of peace he deserves. It's just a shame that it really isn't the life he needs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Kill a Legend

_How do you kill a hero?_

Monsters and traps; lava and quicksand; Ganondorf himself: so many things had tried and failed to kill Link over the course of his journey. There had been near misses, and times where Link himself thought he would not survive, but somehow, he had. He had saved Hyrule and even Termina from the forces of evil and could now enjoy a safe, happy childhood as his reward.

So why did it feel so...empty?

Link no longer had a home amongst the Kokiri, with Navi gone and the Deku Tree withered away. He was no longer protected from the strange power that turns wayward children to Skull Kids and lost adults to Stalfos. He was resigned to that after failing to retrieve Navi, and for a time, was content to wander Hyrule and visit familiar friends.

He journeyed to Death Mountain, where he believed he would always be 'brother' to the Goron tribe. Yet they turned him from their doors, not recognising the Hylian child. The reversal of time meant their food woes were not solved by Link, not in this time. There was no debt of gratitude for saving them from the terrible serpent Volvagia, either. It had simply never happened.

He continued to Zora's Domain, where at least he could guarantee the affection of Ruto, even if that was not what he truly craved. While the Zora let him in, and greeted him as courteously as any messenger from the royal family would be, Link was treated with a cold respect throughout. He had not been the one to rescue their princess in this time, nor thawed their kingdom, not least because it never had been frozen to begin with.

When visiting the Gerudo tribe, he realised that they only barely tolerated his child self, and thought it amusing that a Hylian so young could wield a sword so well, but otherwise did not care who or what he was. If he stayed out of their way, the women simply ignored him.

At Lon Lon Ranch, Malon still recognised him as 'Fairy Boy', which still stung from the loss of Navi, but he was grateful that anyone remembered him at all, even if just as 'the fairy boy who woke up my father when he was late once'.

As for Zelda herself, Link wasn't exactly sure what she knew, what she remembered and what she had seen in prophetic dreams. After convincing the King of Ganondorf's future treachery, and Ganondorf's subsequent execution, he had been officially recognised as an ally of the royal family. Yet this counted for very little. Meetings with Zelda were mostly conducted with an official chaperone close by, and no one, no matter how loyal an ally they were, could have a relaxed friendship with the princess under those conditions.

Besides, in order to get to the castle, he had to travel through the town, and the sight of the streets always reminded him of shambling corpses, able to petrify him helpless with a scream. In a way, that is where this bitter taste of hollow victory came from. Link knew what so easily could have happened. He lived every terrifying moment of it. Those memories would never leave him: even if he could push them aside during the day, the night terrors woke him with a yell, and he would pace beside whatever bed he had for the night until dawn broke. But he could not mention it to anyone. How could anyone understand the trials he had been through, when all they had known was peace? Zelda may be the only one who would even believe his adventure, but with the constant supervision, there was no way to broach the subject without news reaching the King that Link, their so called ally, was just a deranged child.

So he kept his memories to himself, and wandered. He was just looking for _anything_ to show that he still mattered, that this world still needed him. But the various peoples of Hyrule had enough of their everyday woes to notice or care about one little orphan child. As the years passed, the few looks of pity dwindled to looks of disgust and resentment. A lost child might get some sympathy, but a strange wandering man with a sword was worthy of only mistrust. 

In a misguided attempt to help, Zelda named him as an honorary soldier of the royal family, and outfitted him accordingly. This simply fostered resentment against him by the soldiers that had been seen to earn their skills and position in the army. While Link was undeniably skilled with a blade, he was obviously self-taught, with elements of style he had fabricated himself. No soldier would have learnt moves like that. Link was also in the position of being too well-thought of to preform the everyday tasks of the military, which only furthered the bitterness against him. Not that it mattered. With Hyrule at peace, the life of a soldier was not a fit for Link. He only fought when it was necessary, and the royal family scarcely needed another nameless guard for the castle.

With nothing left to lose, Link went back into Kokiri Forest, fully clad in his ill-gotten armour. He was fully aware that he wouldn't return. He only hoped he could see his old friend Saria just once more, before the forest sank its hold into him. After that, sinking into the mindlessness of a Stalfos didn't seem that terrible. 

_How do you kill a hero? You simply need to kill the idea of him. Take away his legacy and purpose, and everything else will follow._

 

* * *

 

Many years later, a young man in a green tunic ventures up a forest path. A creature distorted by time and the forest recognises these clothes. The hero's journey begins again. Time to pass on the skills of their bloodline.

Finally, a _purpose_.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, am I the only one who makes myself sad every time I read through Hyrule Historia or..?


End file.
